MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Lutheran dominated down low Wednesday night at the Edgedome to notch a 64-44 win over Edgewood College. With the loss, the Eagles are still searching for a NACC berth but can clinch a spot in the tournament with a win over Aurora on Saturday at home.
Edgewood College shot just 23.9 percent (17-of-71) and posted only 14 points in the paint compared to the Warriors' 38. Kirsten Schulz, the NACC's leading scorer, was just one block shy of a triple-double, as the 6-3 senior had 32 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks.
The Eagles kept it close in the first ten minutes before the Warriors caught fire from the field. Trailing 18-12 with 11:50 left in the first, the Eagles then allowed the Warriors to push their lead to 15 with 3:04 left after a three from Dallas Chladek. Mariah Hill scored a bucket on the next possession to make it 32-19, but Schulz scored her 13th and 14th points of the half with 33 seconds left to give the Warriors a 34-19 lead at the break.
The Warriors turned it over 13 times in the half but the Eagles managed only five points off of those turnovers. At the break the Eagles were 8-of-35 from the field (22.9%), including a 1-for-11 (9.1%) mark from deep.
Rachel Pope got things going in the second half with a jumper to make it 34-21 with 18:02 to go but the Warriors would push their lead to 22 after Schulz's three-point play with 14:54 left. The Warriors would lead by as many as 27 points after a Christel Frey jumper made it 58-31 with 6:46 remaining. The Eagles would make it a 20-point game on two more occasions down the stretch after Kortni Kohl made it 60-40 on a free throw and again with six seconds left on a pair of free throws.
The Eagles wound up shooting 1-for-22 from three-point range (4.5%) and were outrebounded 46-37. Pope was Edgewood College's leading scorer with eight on 4-of-13 shooting. Hannah Menzia and Hill were right behind with seven points apiece while Sammy Gander chipped in two points and led the Eagles in rebounds with six.
Caitlin Knueppel and Frey each had eight points for the Warriors while Maggie Gartner finished second on the team in rebounding with nine.
The Eagles play Aurora at 2 pm on Saturday, Feb. 14 on Senior Day at the Edgedome.
